


Of Broken Bones and Appendicitis

by kai_foxflight



Series: A World Beyond [2]
Category: SHINee
Genre: Ableist Language, Career Ending Injuries, Gen, Major Character Injury
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-22
Updated: 2017-07-22
Packaged: 2018-12-05 15:07:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,391
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11580561
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kai_foxflight/pseuds/kai_foxflight
Summary: Kibum and Taemin met in the ER, but that wasn't where their relationship ended.





	Of Broken Bones and Appendicitis

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: meeting while waiting for hours on end in the ER

“Are you sure you don’t need anything else, Taemin? Do you want another blanket? A new ice pack? Some pain medicine? Water? Food? A phone charger? I can have Minho go back and get you anything you want if—”

“I’m fine, hyung.” Key scoffed at the boy across the too-bright room, watching as he was still fussed over until he was laughing and pushing the elder away. “I’m really fine, Jinki. You should go eat dinner with Minho.”

“But what if the doctor comes back then and something is majorly wrong and they take you away and Minho and I come back and you aren’t here? What are we supposed to do then?”

There was a moment where Key actually smiled at the look on the boy’s face—his look of  _ did he really just say that? _ —but it dropped just as quickly when shooting pain went through his stomach. Jonghyun turned to him immediately, but was waved off after a few seconds with a pained smile. “Then the boy across the room will tell you. You will, right?!”

It seemed like the whole emergency room went into silence for the second it took for Key to process  _ yes, he is talking about you _ . But once he had, he was a little over-eager to nod, overjoyed when a huge smile graced Taemin’s face. “See? So go eat, hyung. Enjoy the food I’m not allowed right now.”

...

“So why are you here?” Jonghyun and Key both jumped when the boy appeared in a wheelchair in front of their curtained area an hour later. “Do you mind if I stay here for a little? My hyungs had to go back to our apartment and I’m bored and scared all alone over there.”

Jonghyun looked at Key and shrugged, while the boy on the bed sighed but nodded, sinking into the mattress further. “The doctors think I have appendicitis. You?”

“Broke my leg.” Taemin leaned back into the wheelchair a little more, wincing only slightly when the movement strained the injured limb. “Fell in dance practice.”

“I didn’t know someone could break their leg just from tripping.”

The boy gave a smirk, almost sadistic as he shook his head. “Never said I tripped. I was thrown in the air and not caught.”

“Oh shit ow that must have hurt.” When two sets of seemingly-bottomless eyes turned on him, Jonghyun immediately dropped his head, focusing more on the phone in his lap than anything else. “Sorry.”

“It didn’t hurt as much as one would think. I’m pretty sure I blacked out when I fell. Then someone was screaming that my leg was bent the wrong way and someone else was trying to call an ambulance but was panicking too much. So I got my hyungs to bring me here and save all the trouble of getting an ambulance in case someone needed it more than me.”

There was a pause where Jonghyun’s phone-playing stopped and where Key just stared blankly at Taemin, the words sinking in slowly. “You… broke your leg straight through and didn’t want an ambulance ‘in case someone needed it more’?”

“Well… yeah.”

“Wow.”

“If only Kibum were like that.” Jonghyun didn’t let the glares from the boy in the bed stop him this time. “He’s been whining for hours about how he is dying and so our mom finally dropped us here and what do you know, he’s still alive.”

“But, like, you can die from appendicitis. I had to get emergency surgery when I was younger for it.” Taemin pulled his blanket higher up, snuggling into it as best he could in the uncomfortable wheelchair. “But nobody’s ever died from a broken leg.”

“Your leg though… you need that to walk, you know.”

“I’ll be walking in like, a month. Don’t worry.” Taemin gave a small smile. “But let’s talk about less depressing things.”

“Like what?”

“How long has it been since you ate?”

“ _ What _ ?”

“They’ve been starving me for 4 hours since I got here in case I need surgery. So I figured they probably haven’t given you anything either.”

Key blinked once, twice, then a third time before turning to Jonghyun. “What time is it? How has it been longer than 4 hours already?”

“It’s around… five-thirty.”

“That’s so fuc—” None of the occupants of the room were prepared for Key to practically lunge for the pan the nurse had given him hours before, the contents of his stomach coming up violently as he heaved and gasped for air. “Get… the nurse…”

After one glance, Jonghyun didn’t hesitate to fly up from the chair and out of the room, almost hitting Taemin’s chair on the way out. The boy tried his best to maneuver out of the way, cramming in by the side of Key’s bed to rub his back as best he could from the low vantage point. “It’s going to be okay; you’re going to be okay.”

“It feels like someone just stabbed me…” Key spit the taste of vomit from his mouth, still leaning over the almost-full pan but not heaving into it anymore. When the nurse threw the curtain wide, he winced and didn’t move to sit back. “Make the pain stop. Please, make the pain stop.”

A doctor came in with Jonghyun following, Taemin pushing his chair further into the corner while the doctor and nurse rushed around the bed. He didn’t even realize Jonghyun was next to him until Key was being rushed out of the room and the elder was trying his hardest to not break down crying. “What’s wrong? What just happened? Where are they taking him?”

Jonghyun sniffled, not speaking at first and eventually reaching for the handles on Taemin’s wheelchair. “Let’s get you back to your room.”

“What happened to him though? What’s wrong?”

“He really does have appendicitis and they think his appendix just burst.” Jonghyun started to push the chair across the ward to the room Taemin had been in before. “So he’s going into emergency surgery and I have to call our mom.”

“Can I just do something really quick?” His wheelchair stopped by the edge of his bed and Taemin was quick to stand on one leg, plopping down on the edge and grabbing a pad and pen that Jinki had left for him. “Here’s my number. I expect to know if he’s okay.”

...

Taemin groaned, rubbing his eyes as hard as he could before opening them and promptly shutting them again. “Turn off the light.”

“…The light is off, Tae.”

“Then turn off the sun.” There was a slight chuckle and he only groaned at the splitting headache it caused. “What happened?”

“You don’t remember?”

“Would I be asking if I did?” He groaned again, trying to roll over only to be stopped. “Why can’t I move?”

“They did surgery on your leg, Tae.” Jinki’s voice was more soothing than Minho’s—the first time he thought he would ever choose his brother over his best friend. “And, well… it didn’t go as they planned.” Taemin’s eyes snapped open, fighting against the painful light to look at Jinki’s solemn face. “When you broke your leg… the way it broke, the blood flow was cut off. So as they got into surgery, they realized and… well…”

“I… my leg it gone?” Jinki slowly nodded, watching Taemin’s eyes as his still-hazy mind tried to process everything. “Like,  _ gone _ gone?”

“It was all dead tissue, Taemin. There was no blood flow and you would not have been able to use it or anything. It was the only option.”

“Do mom and dad know?”

“We… did tell them, yes.”

“And how long is it going to take to heal?”

“It’s going to be a while, Minnie… Months, at least.”

“But it will, right?”

“Of course it will, Minnie.”

“That’s all that matters then.”

...

When Taemin woke up again in the morning, there was a nurse bustling around the bed and a tray of food on the table next to him. “Would it be possible for me to visit someone in the hospital?”

She jumped at the sudden noise, fixing the plastic cups she knocked over before answering. “I think something can be worked out.”

“Can you find out if someone is still here for me then?”

“I’ll try my best. Do you have a name?”

Taemin paused for a second, eyes narrowing as he thought hard through the fuzzy memories of the night before to earlier in the day. “Kim Kibum I think? He had appendicitis and he had to get emergency surgery yesterday, so I want to make sure he’s okay.”

“Well that’s very sweet of you.” She finished all that she was doing, stepping back from the bed. “If you need me, just press the call button on the remote. Is there anything I can do for you before I go?”

“Can you help me sit up?” He tried to not be embarrassed when she cranked the bed up and then grabbed under his arms to help straighten him. “Thank you…”

“Anything else?”

“Can you hand me my phone? I’m sorry…”

“Don’t be sorry, honey. You shouldn’t be straining yourself right now.” She placed the electronic on the table with his breakfast, pulling it around to be in front of him. “Your friend went home last night and your brother is eating breakfast in the cafeteria, but he should be back soon. Just remember to press the button if you need anything, okay?”

...

“So I guess I won’t be walking in a month.” Jonghyun jumped in the chair beside Key’s bed, head whipping to face the boy in the wheelchair by the doorway.

“Maybe not a month, but since they stabilized your leg it shouldn’t be that… wait…” Taemin tried to act like he didn’t notice as Jonghyun’s eyes caught on the spot under the blanket where his leg should have been. “Taemin?”

“The surgery hadn’t gone as planned.” He tried to give a joking smile, but tears started to roll and try as he might, Taemin couldn’t wipe them away fast enough. “And, well… yeah. No leg. I’m a peg-leg now.”

“Taemin—”

“But I guess that’s okay as long as I’m alive, right?” He stuck his hand in the sleeve of his jumper, wiping his face clean of tears with the rough fabric. “How’s Key doing?”

“They knocked him out with some pain meds earlier…” Jonghyun could feel his heart breaking, feel the shards of it spreading a million which ways, as Taemin slowly nodded and reached for the wheels of the chair to back out of the room. “Do you want to go get lunch in the cafeteria with me?”

...

“So do you want to talk about, well, anything?” Taemin shrugged, watching Jonghyun tear into a piece of chicken while his tuna salad sandwich sat untouched on the table. “It can literally be anything.”

“I’m tired of talking.”

“Hm?”

“Doctors have made me talk for hours every day to get used to the fact that I lost my leg and that as much as it feels like it should be there, it isn’t… So I’m tired of talking. You talk.” Jonghyun swallowed hard, the chicken suddenly a lump of rock in his throat instead of food.

“What do you want to talk about?”

“Tell me about you. Your school, grade, job, anything.”

“Well…” The tray of food was abandoned as Jonghyun kicked back in his seat, watching for a few seconds as Taemin finally opened the wrapping on his sandwich and started to pick it apart, small pieces disappearing into his mouth every now and then. “I go to Seoul University, majoring in broadcasting. I’m a junior. Um… I run the campus nighttime radio and also do sound board for the local theater. And I’m in a band. How about you?”

“I go to SM Star Academy, I’m a sophomore, and I guess I no longer have lead spot on the dance team.” Taemin’s face turned bitter. “And I was in a group as a dancer, but that’s ruined now too.”

“Why does it have to be?”

“Because I only have one leg? Can you not see?”

Jonghyun bit his tongue to not retort back, instead taking a deep breath through his nose before replying. “You’ll be able to have a prosthesis if you want. And there’s other positions besides dancing.”

“Like what? It’s an idol group. You dance and you sing. And I can’t sing for shit.”

“Well maybe you’re not meant to be an idol then.” Jonghyun gave a lopsided grin even under Taemin’s glare. “You look like a great pianist to me. Or a guitarist. Do you play?”

“I do but I’m not any good. I’ve spent years training to be a dancer and that got ripped away because that stupid junior didn’t bother to learn the formation change and missed catching me and—” He cut himself off, drawing in a deep breath of air before bursting into sobs. “This isn’t fair…”

...

“You sure this is the right place, Jjong? I thought you said it was a fashion show…”

“Shush, Kibum.” Jonghyun grabbed his brother’s hand, leading the way up the brick steps and through the front door of the building, mingling in with the crowds that were already there. Pushed and shoved, Kibum had nothing but complaints spilling from his mouth, but Jonghyun’s was plastered in a permanent grin. “Just be quiet and watch for a minute Bummie.”

“What the hell is—” The entire room—once filled with muffled chatter—fell silent as a lone boy in a wheelchair slowly rolled across the stage. There was a moment of struggle as he got situated at the grand piano, but not a comment or joke was made as his fingers took home on the keys and started flying, a melody produced that weaved through the entire room and filled the ears of every listener.

And when he finished, there was silence. Not a word was spoken by the boy, not even as he wheeled back from the piano and turned towards the audience. Eyes of the curious were drawn to the empty space where his right leg should have been, but the boy neither noticed nor cared as he bowed down in the chair and then wheeled off, leaving the stage empty for a few seconds.

And then the applause came.


End file.
